


Stuck in a Little Pot (Set Love Free)

by Elliefailz



Category: All Elite Wrestling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Fluff, Insecurity, M/M, Plants, Romantic Fluff, happy ending!, i also did kind of have a beta reader oops, ive never done this before!, literally the tiniest bit of angst, no beta we die like men, some cussing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-26 09:21:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30103776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elliefailz/pseuds/Elliefailz
Summary: Being a florist on Valentine's Day is hard enough without being told you're killing your bonsai tree.
Relationships: Trent Barreta/Chuck Taylor
Comments: 23
Kudos: 20





	1. Is This a Meet Cute?

**Author's Note:**

> saw that this fandom didn't have a flowershop AU and went "I can fix that<3"  
> in all seriousness, I have never written fanfiction before, but something about these two people just makes me want to! They are simply too endearing and cute.  
> all thanks to Xtina who facetimes me as I constantly ask her "is it actually good though?"
> 
> The Bonsai Thing came from Trent's actual tweets about how bonsai trees make him sad.

Chuck Taylor never imagined owning a flower shop, but once he did, he never wanted to let Belle of the Ball Florists go. Except on fucking Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day was busy for any flower shop, but Chuck felt like Cupid himself had it out for him with the amount of people coming in. Customer after customer filed in last minute, buying up any bouquet of roses that looked decent. Chuck grew tired of the countless questions of, “Do you think my girlfriend will like this?” or the usual quips “I forgot it was Valentine’s Day, oops!” How anyone could forget Valentine’s Day was beyond him. He may not have looked it, but this was _his_ holiday. He couldn’t get enough of it; he loved the colors, the sappy handwritten cards that were exchanged, he didn’t even mind that all the restaurants would be packed, resulting in him always having to get take out as his favorite bar instead of sitting in. Some years, when he was younger, he got to spend the day with a significant other, but lately, it had just been himself. Which was fine. Most of the time. _I have Walter_ he consoled himself as he imagined coming home to an empty apartment, no one there to accept flowers from him. He wished someone was there to greet him, maybe with chocolates or a small teddy bear. Someone to lay next to him, stroke his face and laugh at his jokes. Chuck quickly shook the thoughts out of his head as he rang up the next customer. 

It was getting close to six which meant the traffic was going to die down and Chuck was hoping to close down shop soon. _Everyone’s out getting dogged except me_ Chuck thought solemnly to himself, mindlessly fixing the bonsai tree and rearranging the card display.  
The front door bell dinged and Chuck followed it up with “Hi, welcome! We’re closing soon. If you need any help, let me know.” 

“Uh yeah, actually, I would like some. Some help.” Chuck reeled around to see a taller man, 5’11 at most, more like 5’10 if he was being honest, standing in the doorway looking overwhelmed. Across his forehead was a hot pink headband. The word “cute” immediately popped into Chuck’s mind. A cute man buying flowers way too late for his girlfriend. _Or maybe boyfriend. Please let it be boyfriend._

“Yeah, yeah, of course. We have a few roses left, some white tulips, and a bunch of lilies. Any other flowers are gonna be in the back.”  
Chuck turned back, set on fixing the cards so all the corny ones would be front and centered. He placed a “You’re the Bee's Knees” card decorated with bees in the center slot when he heard a throat clear. He turned around to see the headband man clutching white lilies in one hand and red roses in the other. 

“Which one do you like more?” he asked Chuck, looking sheepish as he did. 

“Uh, you can never go wrong with roses.” 

“Too romantic?”

“Well, I mean, it’s Valentine’s Day?”

“Oh yeah, of course.” Headband man replied, putting the lilies back in their pot of water. _Weird_ Chuck thought, _It’s fucking Valentine’s Day, you can’t get too romantic._

Headband man walked over to the cards, looking at each one intently. He flipped open a musical one, hearing “Sexy Boy” ring out before immediately putting it back. Chuck watched him as he finally chose one of the corny ones he put out. A hot pink and green card with a dinosaur saying “Rawr means I love you in dinosaur!” sprawled across the top. A personal favorite of Chuck’s. _Man’s got taste._

“Hey you got a pen?” It took Chuck a moment too long to realize the man was asking for him before he sputtered “yeah” and handed him one. Chuck walked back around the counter, ready to ring him up. The man looked focused as he jotted words down. Chuck imagined what it could say, probably something mushy about being the one for him. The type of card that Chuck could only imagine receiving. As Chuck stared down at the handwriting, he did catch Headband man sign his name. _Trent?_ He thinks it says, getting one more look before it’s tucked away. _It’s definitely Trent._

“That’s going to be $34.25.” Chuck told him. 

“Uh, here’s $40.” Headband man, no Trent, said. As he passed Chuck the money, their hands brushed just for a second, causing Chuck’s breath to hitch ever so slightly. _God, what a fucking loser_ Chuck thought to himself. _What am I? 17?_

Chuck couldn’t shake the warmth he felt, especially when Trent brushed his hand again when he handed back his change. 

“Have a good night!” Chuck told him, already wanting to close up for the night so he could get home in time for the Sixers game. He thought about what he would order for dinner and the outfit he’d dress Walter up in to distract himself as Trent gathered his gifts. 

“You too,” Trent responded, stopping before turning to leave. “You know. You really shouldn’t keep bonsai trees in pots. It keeps them from growing.” Trent stared at Chuck, waiting for a response. 

“Oh. Thanks for the tip. I’ll, um, move it?” 

“Yeah. It should die free.” was all Trent said before giving Chuck a small smile and walking out.

 _What a psycho_ Chuck thought as he locked the door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like it!! if you wanna yell at me, my tumblr is @goofswrasslin  
> also: here's a song for the first chapter! it has like 18 wrestling references and I constantly listened to it as I wrote the first chapter.  
> https://open.spotify.com/track/3ssWhxlMN1etlnlkAJF3fe?si=u9dK7QYnQMWa0ci0G_zEaw


	2. Bath Bombs and Peonies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trent returns to the shop with questions. Chuck has yet to move the bonsai tree.

It had been a little more than a week since Trent walked in. Chuck had only thought about him maybe ten times, but each time, an odd feeling gripped his stomach. He felt light-headed as he fixated on how rough, yet gentle Trent’s hand was when he passed him the change. _When did I get so soft?_ He thought, feeding Walter a treat before getting ready to leave for another day at the shop. 

With Valentine’s Day being over, the days were slower. Chuck still had the occasional birthday bouquet or depressing funeral, but for the most part, his days consisted of having to listen to someone talk too openly about how they made their boyfriend upset when they missed their lunch date or forgot an anniversary and needed to make it up to them. Every time he heard variations of the same story, he could not help but feel upset. _If I had a boyfriend, I’d never be late to any stupid date. I’d remember every goddamn date there was_ he thought, despite knowing that time management was in no way his strong suit. 

Preparing to deal with more customers asking if this bouquet makes up for whatever mistake they had made, Chuck’s eyes rested on his bonsai tree. He couldn’t help but feel a little guilty for not immediately taking Trent’s advice. It wasn’t that he was against replanting the tree, he just hadn’t found time to do it yet. Besides, the whole “the tree will die free” line kind of freaked him out. He reminded himself that he needed to google “bonsai trees” to confirm what Trent said before he made any rash decisions. 

Closing time was rapidly approaching when Chuck spotted a particular man outside the door on his phone. It took him a few moments to realize that the hands cradling the phone were the ones he had been reminiscing about for the past week. _Trent._

He looked nervous, fixing his headband, this time a lime green color, one more time before hanging up and heading in. Chuck ducked behind the bath bomb display, hoping to have a few moments to collect himself. He thought about why Trent could be back so soon. Maybe he got in a fight with his partner? A birthday? Whatever it was, Chuck felt his stomach tighten at the chance to talk to him again. Chuck watched Trent move around the shop, careful not to accidentally scrape any flowers. Chuck willed himself to stand up and clear his throat. “Need help looking for anything?” Chuck asks. 

“Yeah.” Trent stares. “You got any cool flowers?” 

_Cool. What the fuck does he mean by “cool?”_ Chuck laughs and replies “Uh, we got some peonies. Those are pretty cool.” 

“Yeah? Don’t they stand for like, romance, or something?” 

Chuck feels his face get hot as he says “Um, lots of flowers stand for that. But, peonies are for, like, being shy.” 

“Nice. What about these?” Trent says while pointing at bunches of white and red carnations. 

“White carnations are good luck and red’s for deep love.” Chuck responds, wondering how many more flowers is he going to have to explain. “Is there a special occasion you need the flowers for?” Chuck asks in hopes that it’s a birthday rather than an anniversary. 

“Nah, not really. Flowers are just cool, you know?” Chuck absolutely does not know. Flowers have always just been so much more than cool to him. They’re a testament of love, a promise; caring and compassion comes with getting flowers. But, looking at Trent’s wide grin as his points to the red carnation, he can’t help himself to smile back and say “Yeah, they’re pretty cool.”

Trent reaches over to grab some leftover lavender. Chuck stares at his hand’s grip on the stems and almost reaches out to put his hand over Trent’s, but stops himself. _What is happening?_ Chuck thinks as he clears his voice. “Lavender represents calmness.” 

“I feel pretty calm right now.” Chuck spends the rest of his shift pointing out flowers to Trent and explaining their meaning. Trent asks questions, weird ones mostly, like “Do you think a rose and a lily can come together to make a new flower?” Chuck didn’t really have an answer for that, besides just shrugging and laughing. It’s already five minutes past closing when Chuck realizes he needs to lock up. He’s about to mention the time when Trent gets a phone call.

“Yeah, I’ll be right there, sorry!” Chuck’s chest tightens when he thinks about how he is going to an empty home while Trent goes to meet with someone else. _Is he getting dogged tonight?_ Chuck wonders while trying to look like he isn’t totally eavesdropping. 

“Sorry about that, I’ll take the white carnations.” Chuck tries to not fixate on the fact that he did not choose the red ones. He wants to keep the conversation going as long as he can, saying “Want to throw a bath bomb in? We just got glow-in-the-dark ones, they’re cool.” 

Trent laughs, “Yeah, that sounds great.” Chuck walks across to the bath bomb display, “Any preference? We have Da Bomb Bath Bomb in green, Bubble bubble toil and trouble, Twilight, or-”

Trent cuts him off. “Just pick your favorite.” Chuck pauses, racking his brain for what his favorite has been. He grabs the peach-shaped one because that one fizzes the best and frankly, smells the best. He hands the bag off to Trent, hoping that their fingers will touch like before. They don’t and Chuck hides his disappointment when putting away the money. Trent peaks inside the bag and gives Chuck a lopsided smile. 

“Pretty peachy.” 

Chuck chokes on his spit as he lets out a laugh. “It smells the best.”

“Can’t wait to try it. I’ll give you my review of it,” Trent says before furrowing his brow, his eyes focusing elsewhere. Chuck takes the opportunity to study his face as much as he can; his hair is pulled back away from his face, letting Chuck see him fully. Trent’s eyes are brown, his nose is a bit wide, there’s more scruff on his face than there was a week ago. Chuck imagines what it feels like to caress his face. He’s about to zone in on Trent’s lips when he’s interrupted. 

“You gotta move the bonsai tree, dude, it’s sad.”

“Oh shit, yeah.” Chuck sputters, pulling his eyes away from Trent’s lips. “I’ve just been busy, but I’ll do it, promise.” 

Trent smiles again and Chuck thinks he’d replant a thousand bonsai trees if he means he’d get to see that smile. 

“Awesome, see you next time!” 

Chuck spends the entire time closing, walking home, cooking dinner, and the minutes before he falls asleep thinking about the next time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all the flower meanings are true and those are real bath bomb names!  
> once again, all the thanks and love to Xtina as I yell at her "but does it sound good!"
> 
> here's a song I listened to as I wrote!  
> https://open.spotify.com/track/6jfXrUUBLgpOUkkDyq0FYF?si=v6jyfzpqQ9SfcrGgXQJNvQ


	3. Any Flowers Drop?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trent comes in at a weird time.

Trent made good on his promise, coming in the next week at the same time to discuss his “bath bomb experience,” as he called it. 

“It fizzed so quickly, it was insane!” Trent spoke, laughing. Chuck did everything in his power to not envision the image of Trent in the bath, surrounded in pink water and giggling about the fizziness. 

Needless to say, he failed miserably.

He felt his blush creep down to his neck as he nodded along to Trent’s vivid review. Trent went on as Chuck zoned out, imagining Trent’s chest being wet. He thought about how he might look, laying in the tub, with no headband to hold his hair back.

 _I wonder if his tub can even fit him, mine fucking couldn’t._ The image of Trent’s knees sticking out of the water were just coming into his mind when Chuck heard Trent say “I thought my dick was bleeding, but it was actually just the bath bomb.”  


Chuck thought his face could not get any redder as he pictured how Trent’s penis might look like.

 _God, this dude barely knows me and I’m acting like some pervy old man._ Chuck thought as he sadly, pushed the image away.  
“I’m glad you liked it.” Chuck responded, refusing to make eye contact.

“Any more recs?”

“Like, for bath bombs?” He glanced over at the display and considered his options. He could offer the Ickle Baby Bot which made the water glitter, or Butterball, but they both seemed boring. His eyes went to the Sex Bomb, but the idea of offering that to Trent made him want to shrivel up in embarrassment.

He chose the Galactic one which led to an in-depth conversation on if aliens had ever visited Earth; Chuck was certain they haven’t, but Trent wasn’t so convinced.

“You know, my last boyfriend hated when I used bath bombs, said they clogged up the drain or whatever.” Trent said. Chuck’s brain almost split apart hearing the word he’d been secretly hoping for. _Boyfriend. A confirmation, finally._ Chuck did little to hide his excitement, offering up a wide grin and exclaiming, “Fucking lame! Bath bombs are great.”

“The best!” Trent replied. He checked his phone before saying “It’s time for me to head out, gotta meet my mom.” He paused, “Hey, got any sunflowers?”

Chuck pointed to the sunflowers next to the counter. “For your mom?”

“Yeah, she got some promotion so just thought it’d be nice. Like congrats, you know!” Chuck agreed, bagging up the bath bomb and flowers.

“You know, sunflowers mean good luck, so you picked the rights ones for your mom.” Chuck said, hoping to impress Trent with his flower knowledge.

“Hell yeah, flower facts.” Trent said, pocketing his change and grinning.

Before leaving, Trent promised he’d come back for more bath bombs and flower facts. “And move the fucking bonsai tree!” Trent yelled, closing the door behind him.

It became a routine quickly; six o’clock would come around on Friday and Trent would come walking in. Chuck would offer up all the flower knowledge he had and Trent would listen, ask questions more often than not, and leave with a bath bomb, some type of flower, and yelling that Chuck needs to “move the goddamn bonsai tree please!”

That’s why it was so odd when he came in at 3 o’clock.

“Trent?” Chuck asked. “Need anything?”

“Oh. You know. Just wanted to see if any flowers dropped.”

Chuck forgot how much of a pure idiot this man could be when it came to floriculture.

“If any...flowers _dropped_?”

“Yeah.”

“They haven’t.”

“Oh, damn.” Chuck thought he saw a legitimate flicker of sadness cross Trent’s face over the fact that no, no new flowers have dropped. He resisted the urge to explain to him that flowers were not like albums and the concept of “dropping” would never apply.

“I did just get a new shipment of magnolias though, if you wanna check those out.”

“Ooh, magnolias. What do those stand for, Chuckie?” Trent asked, already walking over to them. _Chuckie, huh? Guess we’re nickname close now._ Chuck pondered on what nickname he’d give Trent; _Tent? T? Nah, that’s dumb as fuck._

“Perseverance. They’re actually my favorite.”

“Yeah?” Trent said as he got a good look at them. “Yeah, they seem like you.”

Chuck laughed, “What does that mean?”

“You know, they’re tall. Cute. White.”

 _Hold the fuck up, I’m not that white-wait? Cute?_ Chuck thought of a witty one-liner he could use, but his mind was drawing a blank, focused only on the fact that he’d been called cute.  


“Ha. Yes.” _Yes? I’ve been called cute and all I have to say is yes?_

Moments passed before Trent broke the silence. “Anyways, I was actually on my way to the dog park, my mom took my dog and I’m meeting them and I thought I’d just come in. See how it’s going”

“The park around the corner? I take my dog there!” Chuck responded.

“Yeah, it’s the only decent one.”

 _Of course we would go to the same dog park and yet, I’ve never seen this hot man before._ Chuck swallowed his petty anger and focused back on Trent.

“Here, let me show you Bo,” Trent said, already taking his phone out.” Chuck stood next to him, waiting to see whatever adorable picture Trent had ready.

It was not that Chuck meant to, it’s just with standing next to Trent, he couldn’t help but see all the pictures in his camera roll. He zeroed in one of Trent, standing next to another man, a hot man. _A way hotter man than me._ Chuck looks closer as Trent is looking for a specific picture of Bo. _And they’re hugging? Shirtless?_

He sees more of the same dude, all the pictures signifying a relationship and Chuck feels the room closing in on him. _He’s just a nice fucking dude. I’m the horny one here_ Chuck declares. He thinks of all the flowers Trent’s been buying and jumps to the conclusion that there’s no way some dude would buy random flowers to just talk to him. To him, even calling him “cute” was a simple slip of the tongue. _I’m not as cute as a magnolia, nothing is_ Chuck thinks as Trent finally finds the picture of Bo.

“Oh yeah. Nice dog.” Chuck responds, still feeling that the air has been sucked out of him.

“We should take our dogs to the park together sometime!” Chuck hears Trent ask, but his voice sounds like it’s across the store.

Chuck waits a beat before replying, “Eh, maybe. I’m really busy with the store, so I don’t know.” _I am not gonna be a pity hangout_ Chuck thinks, resisting the urge to yell it to Trent. _He probably just thinks I’m weird with my fucking flower knowledge. He goes home to his hot fucking boyfriend and laughs at me._ Chuck wants to leave the room, but can’t move away from his spot.

Trent stares hard at Chuck’s unemotional face, finally shrugging and saying, “Oh. Yeah, no worries. It’s probably a lot.”

“Yeah.” Chuck says, leaving it at that.

The tension is tangible and Trent submits, telling Chuck to have a good rest of his day and heading out.

Chuck lets out a breath that he did not know he was holding. _Fuck._ Chuck looks over to the bonsai tree, dread washing over him when he realizes that Trent didn’t make some half-ass comment about him moving it.

Trent does not come back next week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh whoops ! no kisses today for them.  
> also who knows what dude Chuck saw on Trent's phone! maybe it's orange! maybe bill carr! idk!  
> I owe Xtina my entire heart simply because she puts up with me and sending her fanfics at 11:30pm. 
> 
> another chapter, another song  
> https://open.spotify.com/track/4F0dLRNg6iHFPoSKUJ8wYC?si=8JBGPZT-Sf6Y7zL6vJo-vg


	4. A Card For You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chuck tries to fix things.

Chuck waited the next week for Trent to appear. He was going to apologize for being an asshole, he told himself. He’d blame it on a headache or something equally as mundane. Chuck would fix this. When Trent didn’t show up, Chuck reasoned with himself that something must have come up. Maybe his mom needed him to run an errand or Bo had a vet appointment. Chuck refused to admit that Trent’s absence had anything to do with him. 

He closed up for the day, certain that by next Friday, Trent would be back, Chuck would apologize, and Trent would be back to demanding him to move the Bonsai Tree and asking about how flowers had sex. 

Next Friday came quicker than Chuck wanted, afraid of the possibility that Trent wouldn’t show and he’d be force to face his issues.

_ Maybe I should have asked instead of being the largest dick in the world. But no, I just jump to the conclusions like it’s my job. _ Chuck opened up his shop, flicking the lights on and seeing the god-forsaken Bonsai tree. 

“I guess we’re stuck together,” Chuck mumbled to the tree. He went about his daily tasks, sweeping and refreshing the water for his flowers. 

The day went by quickly with the usual requests for roses and intricate bouquets. Chuck watched as a young couple walked out, hands clasped, giggling about the flowers they had purchased. Chuck envisioned a future where he could have that. An easy relationship with no self-decrepitating humor to hold them down. He’d do it right whatever right meant. He owned a flower shop for god’s sake, he knew romance. He could be good. 

Six o’clock rolled around, knocking into Chuck like a semi-truck. 

Without Trent around to bug him with insane questions like, “Is the flower’s stamen basically the plant’s penis?” or “What flower stands for kicking ass?” Chuck felt his mind sinking lower and lower. He thought about all the couples he witnessed throughout the day. Sure, some were only there because one of them fucked up, but they were willing to fix the fuck up.  _ Why couldn’t I fix the fuck up?  _ Chuck wracked his brain, trying to figure out the answer. 

_ Oh yeah, it’s cause I’m an insecure piece of shit.  _ Chuck laughed to himself, swallowing any self-pity that threatened to rise. 

_ Can’t blame Trent though, that man was hot as shit.  _ Chuck continued to busy himself with mindless tasks. He readjusted the card display at least five times before finally reverting it back to how it originally looked. He rearranged the flowers countless times, eventually settling on putting the magnolias front and center. 

_ Am I ever going to be called Chuckie again?  _ Chuck put his head in his hands, allowing himself to feel bad for himself for approximately ten seconds before he committed to moving on from Trent. 

His eyes then settled on the Bonsai Tree. 

“Fuck this, I’m moving you,” Chuck deciding that he couldn’t stand the sight of it anymore. He checked the time and decided it was close enough to closing time and set on getting rid of the tree. 

At first, he thought he should just throw it away with the old flowers that didn’t sell, but the idea of the poor tree dying still in its pot disturbed him. Maybe he could sell it?  _ Nah, because what if its’ new owner doesn’t set it free?  _

After staring at it for way longer than necessary, Chuck decided that if anyone was going to set the tree free, it was going to be him. He didn’t really have a backyard though and besides, he would literally go insane if he had to see it every day. There was no community garden near him, but then he remembered the dog park. He picked up the tree by its orange vase and set out to let it go. 

It wasn’t a far walk to the park, five minutes at most. Halfway there, Chuck realized that he still had his work apron on, but felt that if he went back, he’d talk himself out of planting the tree. He trekked on, holding the tree out to not mess up its branches. 

Once he got to the park, he realized he didn’t bring any gardening tools with him.  _ God, I’m an idiot.  _ Chuck thought, scoping out the best location for the tree’s new destination. He didn’t want it too close to the front of the park because the idea of the tree being constantly shat on made him feel even worse than him keeping it in its pot.  _ To the back, it is.  _ With it being late, there weren't too many dogs, but Chuck still found himself ignoring all urges to pet the dogs around him. 

One dog looked oddly familiar to him, but he figured it must have been a dog that Walter plays with. He got to the back of the park and quickly looked for a suitable patch for the tree. In the corner was a soft mixture of dirt and grass.  _ Good enough  _ Chuck thought as he kneeled down. He felt the moisture dampening his knees and dreaded the grass stains he’d get this from this.  _ I better feel fucking better after this.  _

With no tools, Chuck was forced to use his hands as a shovel, moving as much dirt as possible. He was almost three inches in when he felt someone watching him. 

“Chuck?” 

_ You have got to be shitting me.  _

“Uh, hey. Hey, Trent.” Chuck said, afraid to face him, still looking at the small hole he had made. 

“Whatcha doing?” 

Chuck bit back the want to reply _ “What the fuck does it look like I’m doing _ ,” electing to respond with, “Oh, you know. Late night gardening.” 

He heard Trent chuckle and realized how much he missed hearing that sound, how much he missed the space Trent occupied in his life, even for such a short time. 

_ I can fix this fuck up.  _

“I missed you these past couple weeks.” Chuck rose to look at Trent, “The store’s been quiet without someone asking questions.” 

“Sorry about that, I’ve been busy.” Something in Chuck told him that was a bullshit lie. 

_ I will fix this fuck up.  _

“Have you really?” 

Trent sighed before saying, “No.” He looked around nervously and then yelled, “Bo! Stop humping Pepperjack!” 

Chuck looked to see the dog he recognized from earlier.  _ Oh. That’s Bo.  _

Trent continued. “I’m gonna be honest, dude. I thought you, like, liked me. And I was liking you! But then I asked you out and you blew me off. In a real asshole way too.” 

_ He liked me? Am I that obvious when I like someone?  _ Chuck wiped off the dirt on his pants.

“I do like you! It’s just-”

“Just what?” 

Chuck took a deep breath before blurting, “I saw the pictures!”

“What pictures?”

“The ones with you and the dude. The shirtless ones. And he’s so hot and I’m not! And I don’t know, I guess, I just got it in my head that you were just being nice.” 

Trent laughed, throwing his head back and pulled out his phone. 

“Dude, that’s my friend. We’re at a pool party, of course we’re shirtless.” Chuck looked closer at the picture Trent was showing him. 

“Oh my god.” _ I am an idiot.  _ “I’m so sorry.”

Trent laughed softly. “You should have asked, dude. We could have had at least three dates by now.” 

Chuck looked down to hide his rising blush. “Fuck. Have I mentioned how sorry I am?” Chuck looked around at the trapped Bonsai Tree, remembering how he met Trent.

“Wait, what about all the flowers? You came in on Valentine’s Day, Trent.” 

It was Trent’s turn to blush. “Yeah, about that. I, um, kind of used that as an excuse.” Chuck waited for him to continue. “I walked past your shop when walking Bo at least ten times and I kept seeing you. I even started parking away from the park just so I can walk by and see you. And you looked so interested, and cute, with your job. I’d see you fix up your flowers and rearrange your cards and I don’t know, I just wanted to get to know you. And then I saw it was Valentine’s Day and thought “If this doesn’t go well, I can play it off that I’m here for someone else,” but then it went  _ so _ well. Way better than I thought. And I just wanted to keep coming back.”  Trent paused for a moment, lightly laughing to himself. “Do you even know how many dead flowers I have at my place? Way too many.” 

Chuck didn’t know what to say, this was the closest to a love confession he had ever gotten and frankly, he wanted to bask in it a moment longer. 

“But you bought a card! The dinosaur one!” 

Trent’s eyes lit up. 

“Wait here,” he said and bounded off to his car. 

Chuck ran his fingers through his hair, absorbing the information.  _ Trent likes me, he thinks I’m cute! I am cute!  _ He took in deep breaths, feeling the cold air rush in and out of his lungs. He wished he brought a jacket instead of an apron, but thought about that if he had gone back to the shop, he may have missed Trent and then none of this would be happening. He looked down at the Bonsai Tree. 

“I am so gonna plant you after this as a thanks.” Chuck said. 

Trent returned with the dinosaur card in his hand. 

“Here, look at what I wrote,” passing it to Chuck. 

Chuck opened the brightly colored card, seeing the handwriting he desperately tried to read all those weeks ago. 

In it, it read. “You’re cute. Text me sometime. -Trent” with a number scrawled below his name. 

Chuck’s cheeks turned an obscene shade of red. 

“Why didn’t you give this to me?” Chuck asked.

“I got nervous. I kept it in my car in case I ever got the nerves to give it to you.” Trent laughed, “It worked out cause I didn’t think to see you here.” 

Chuck laughed with him, “Yeah, neither did I,” gesturing to his dirt-stained apron and jeans.

“You look cute.” Trent stared at him. 

“So do you.” 

Trent looked over to the Bonsai Tree, “Need help?”

“Yes, please.” Chuck kneeled back on the grass with Trent following suit. 

There was a pleasant silence between them as they worked together to give the Bonsai Tree a new home. Their hands kept brushing together as they packed the dirt back into the ground. Chuck thought about all the other plants they could rehome.  _ Maybe I’ll buy another Bonsai just so we can do this again.  _

Satisfied with his work, Trent stood up, taking Chuck’s hands in his to help him up. 

“Thanks,” Chuck said. 

“Thank you for finally moving the tree.” Trent responded. 

_ Don’t fuck this up, Chuck.  _

“So, now what?” Chuck asked. 

Trent thought to himself. “You free tomorrow? We can have the dog park date. If you still want to.”

“I do. I really do.” 

“Great! We’ll check to see how our tree is doing tomorrow.” Trent said, smiling up at Chuck.  _ Our tree. We have a tree.  _

Chuck grabbed Trent’s hand, interlacing their fingers together. “I’d like that.” 

They walked together to the front of the park, leaving their Bonsai Tree to the natural forces. 

Chuck broke the silence. “So, you know it’s totally gonna die, right?”

“The tree? Oh, yeah. But it’ll die free. Like a true American.” 

They walked a few more steps before Trent said. “Hey. Any new flowers drop while I was gone?” 

Chuck squeezed Trent’s hand and held it up to press it against his lips. 

“We need to talk about how flowers work, Trenty.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow! my first fic! done! 
> 
> literally everyone has been so sweet to me about this fic and it means the world! especially the discord!! I appreciate it more than you know.  
> I wouldn't have written this if it wasn't for Xtina telling me to! I'm so glad I got you into wrestling!!
> 
> here's a song! let it be known these songs mean nothing to the fic, I just listened to them as I wrote!  
> https://open.spotify.com/track/6LxcPUqx6noURdA5qc4BAT?si=JGBHMDi4TOuc4u8d4rLoDQ


End file.
